Compression Slide
by Lelek
Summary: Roxas isn't a long-distance racer, but he has a debt to pay and all he needs to register for the biggest race in the country is a driving partner. Enter Axel who, if he's as good as he says, guarantees victory. AkuRoku


Notes: This fic is kind of strange, for a couple of reasons. First, I actually don't drive. Most of my car knowledge comes from being friends with some guys back in Japan who drift on mountains and almost die a lot. Second, it was supposed to be kind of cracked out and... it's not really. It stopped being crack pretty much from the second sentence because suddenly characters developed back stories that are not full of sunshine and rainbows. It's still pretty light overall, there are some lines that are at least marginally funny, and the premise is kind of ridiculous, but it's not the silly fic I set out to write. Hopefully it'll still be a lot of fun to read, though, because a Roxas who's into drifting is pretty badass.

As for the title? It's a type of drift.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts and, furthermore, am not personally into drifting. I did my best with terminology and details, but I can't claim to be any sort of authority on the sport.

**Compression Slide**

"Roxas, are you _insane_?"

Roxas shrugged and ran a hand back through his hair. "I need the money, Olette. This is as good a way as any to get it."

Olette raised her eyebrows. "Are you for real? There are a hundred better ways than this!"

He frowned at her. "Maybe, if I had more time. Registration for the race ends in two days, Olette, the race starts five days after that and takes about a week. Two weeks from now, I could have the money in my hand, and all the trouble that's been keeping me up all fucking night for half a year would be over." He ran his hand through his hair again, restlessly. "I need to do this."

She bit her lip. "People die in these races, Roxas. You know that. I know that. Fucking everyone who knows anything about racing, and half the ones who don't, know that!" Her calm was breaking. Roxas felt a sort of twisted pride that he was the only person who could freak her out like that. Not even Hayner had been able to do it so deftly, back when everything made sense, before it had all gone to hell.

"I'm not going to die."

"How do you know?" She looked like she was about to cry.

"Because I'm me." He tried to smile cockily, but it fell a little flat in the face of all the things that had gone wrong in their lives. "You know I can do it."

Olette drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, pulling herself back together. "You're a drifter, Roxas, long-distance racing is totally different. Especially when it's _this_ race."

He shrugged. "I just need a good partner. Someone with the right experience. And, as it just so happens, I've got the number of a guy who's supposed to be, like, the best there is or something."

"And he just so happens to need a partner?" she asked sceptically.

"I don't think he's planning on racing, actually." Roxas found himself brushing his hair back again and stopped his hand halfway, crossing his arms instead. "I'm going to convince him that joining me will be the best decision of his life."

"Yeah, not suicidal at all." Olette had been innocent and trusting once, but years of watching her best friends risk their lives in fast cars had hardened her a little. She was still sweet, still the kindest person Roxas knew, but she was a lot tougher than she'd been when they were still in high school and drifting, not just oversteering and fucking with the handbrake in parking lots after dark, had been a dream Roxas and Hayner had shared.

"He's a racer, Olette, I don't think it'll be too hard to bring him in for half the money when we win." He refused to think about the possibility that they wouldn't. Losing just wasn't an option.

Olette sighed heavily, defeated. "Fine. Just be careful, Rox, okay? Don't do anything too stupid."

He smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Wouldn't dream of it."

-

The supposedly awesome racer's name was Axel, which sounded really fitting for a racer, even though it wasn't spelled like the car part, and Roxas was a little surprised at how quickly he agreed to come meet up in person and check out Roxas' car.

Unfortunately, pleased surprise turned to annoyance about three minutes after Axel showed up at the garage.

"An MK IV?" He arched an eyebrow. "This is your car?"

Roxas frowned sharply. "Yeah, what of it?"

"It's... a drift car." Axel's tone told Roxas that he was convinced this explained everything.

"Which would make sense, given that I, shockingly, drift." He rolled his eyes.

Axel shot him an incredulous look. "You're a drifter and you're planning on doing this sort of long-distance race? You got a death wish or something, kid?"

"Don't call me kid," Roxas snapped reflexively. "And, yeah, I am. That's why I called you - I'm a good driver, but I need a partner who's done shit like this before."

Axel gave him an appraising look, green eyes sharp. "Why are you so invested in this?" He paused for a second, then added, "Kid."

Roxas rolled his eyes, but didn't rise to the bait. "I need the cash."

"You must be pretty desperate to go for something like this," he observed casually. "Did you get yourself in trouble or something?"

"That's none of your business." The last thing Roxas wanted to do was spill his fucked up life story to an asshole who was still on the fence about whether or not he was going to race. "It's important, though."

He got another long, thoughtful stare, then, "Okay. You've got yourself a partner."

Roxas blinked twice, rapidly, caught off-guard by the sudden decision. "Oh, awesome. I'll submit our registration today, then, and we'll be good to go."

"Just a minute." Axel held up a hand, smirking. "We've gotta talk about this car first."

"What's wrong with my car?" Roxas scowled at him. The MK IV was probably his favourite car ever made, the last generation of Supra Toyota had produced before discontinuing the line, and he'd worked his ass off to buy one after he'd wrecked his Chaser and decided to keep going even though everything had changed for the worse.

Axel waved the hand he'd lifted dismissively. "It's fine for drift, but we're gonna need something a little different for what we're doing."

"That so? What have you got, then?"

"An '08 Alfa Romeo Spider." The smirk came back full-force.

Roxas gaped. "This is going to sound really rude but, how the fuck did you afford a car like that?"

Axel laughed. "I won a lot of races, what can I say? I'm just that good."

He was turning out to be kind of a douche, but Roxas had a good feeling about him as a driver. "So, you'll drive with me if we take your car?"

"Can I trust you not to crash it?" The smirk was becoming some sort of permanent fixture.

Roxas tilted his chin challengingly. "I've only crashed one car in my life, and it wasn't during a race. You can trust me not to fuck up your expensive European car."

"You've actually crashed?" Axel looked kind of impressed, which was probably a sign that their passion was a little broken. "How bad?"

"Ran off the road, totalled my car, smashed up my ribs." He shrugged awkwardly and let it trail off at that. There was a lot more to that story, but the only person who knew it all was Olette, who he'd grown up with and trusted more than anyone else in the world.

"And you're still driving. I'm impressed." He tilted his head to the side and gave him another level stare. "What kind of car was it?"

"A '95 Chaser. Nothing special, and it gave me an excuse to buy something nicer. Once I was out of the hospital and ready to drive again and all that." Silently, he dared Axel to make some sort of crack about his definition of nicer being a Supra.

"No great loss, then." He nodded. "Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and trust you not to total my vehicle. Unlike you and your shitty Japanese car back whenever the fuck that was, I can't afford to go out and replace my Alfa Romeo right now. Or ever."

Roxas nodded back. "I get it. Your car will be safe while I'm driving it."

"All right, then." He grinned, flashing teeth, and held out his hand for Roxas to shake. "We're in business. Submit that registration and we'll head out first thing in the morning. And I do mean first thing, blondie, I will be here to pick you up at six and you better be ready to get on the road."

Roxas grabbed his hand firmly. "I'll be here."

Axel smirked one more time and gave him a little two-finger solute. "Be seeing you."

-

True to his word, Axel was there to pick him up at six o'clock the next morning. Olette hadn't been happy about Roxas heading out of town so soon, but it made sense. He and Axel would need some rest before the race started and it would have been stupid to cut it close. So she'd given him a hug and told him that, best friend or no, she'd kill him if she found out he got too reckless, and that was that.

He knew what she was thinking when she let him go, all the things she wanted to say, but he'd just smiled like the asshole he was and said goodnight because he didn't want to go there when he had so much to do.

Axel, he discovered upon climbing into the passenger seat of the really fucking nice car, was an annoyingly happy person in the morning.

"How you doing, blondie?" he asked cheerfully before popping something Roxas assumed was food in his mouth.

"Do you just not remember my name or something?" Roxas snapped. He hated getting up early.

"Of course I remember: Roxas. But blondie suits you so well." He grinned and pulled out of the driveway.

"Whatever." Roxas slumped against the door, propping his head on his arm. "It's too early."

"What are you talking about?" Axel ate another of whatever was in the package on the armrest. "It's great. The sun's coming up, it's getting warm, and we've got a whole day of open road ahead of us. How could this not be awesome?"

"It's six AM," he said flatly. "What are you eating?"

"Salami." He held the package out. "Want some?"

Roxas stared at him in muted horror. "That's disgusting."

"No," Axel corrected, "it's delicious. I hope you're not a vegetarian, 'cause then we might have a problem."

"I'm not, but... you're eating salami."

"That's what I said." He shook the bag enticingly. "You sure you don't want a piece? It's really good, I got it at that one yuppie grocery store downtown."

"I'm good." He waved the bag away and went back to trying to get comfortable against the window.

"Someone's not a morning person."

Roxas frowned at his arm. "Your voice is annoying."

"I'm glad we're getting to know each other, too," Axel replied easily. "You're just such a ray of sunshine I'm not sure how I got through my days before I met you."

"Shut up."

"Original, too." Roxas could hear him smirking. He wasn't sure how, but he definitely could.

"Would you just let me get some sleep?" He was actually starting to wake up, which he really didn't want at that hour.

"Wasn't planning on it, no." The bag of salami made plastic-y noises as he reached into it again. "I think we need some music, to wake you up. Any preferences?"

Roxas sighed and gave up on getting a few more hours of sleep. "Whatever you want."

He'd been expecting something loud, because Axel seemed like a loud music sort of person. Instead, he decided to share something pretty mellow that sounded kind of South American

"What is this?" he asked, about thirty seconds into the first song.

"Luis Villegas." Axel tossed him a smile. "What do you think?"

"It's cool." And surprising. "I've never heard of him."

Axel shrugged one shoulder. "He's pretty popular with some parts of the Latino community, and New Age-y people."

"Oh. Awesome." Axel didn't seem particularly New Age-y, so he had to ask, "Which are you?"

Axel laughed. "More Latino than New Age. My mom's Argentinean."

"You... don't look Hispanic. Like, at all." Roxas blinked at him.

"There are a lot of white people in Argentina," Axel informed him lightly. "I just happen to be one such person. Or I would be, if I decided to move back to Buenos Aires."

The conversation was getting interesting, so Roxas decided to sit up a little more. "Back? You used to live there?"

"When I was a teenager, yeah. It's not a great city, but I've got family there, so..." He shrugged. "I like it better in the States, honestly."

"Huh," Roxas was way too tired to come up with a better response. "That's pretty cool."

After a pause in which Axel ate another piece of salami, he said, "So, you gonna share some of your back story with me, or what?"

"Oh, um..." Roxas trailed off. There were a lot of things he could have said, a lot of stories he could have told, but he didn't trust Axel enough yet to let him in that far. "I'm from Seattle originally, but we moved out here when I was a kid. Not as interesting as Argentina."

"I don't know, Seattle's pretty awesome. I mean, I've only been there once, but I liked it." He sounded like he meant it, too, which was weird because most people said things like that when they were trying to make someone feel better about their boring life.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Roxas leaned against the window again and listened to more Spanish guitar. "How long do you think it'll take us to get there?"

"If we stop for the night somewhere? A day and a half or so." He opened the window a little and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "If we were in more of a hurry, I'd say fuck it and just take turns until we get there, but we don't need to worry that much." He stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "You a smoker?"

"Sometimes." He took a cigarette, anyway, because it felt like a nicotine sort of day.

"Disgusting habit, isn't it?" He blew a small cloud of blue-gray smoke out the window. "But everyone's got their vice."

"Yeah," Roxas agreed, cracking his own window. "True that."

-

They got to the hotel where all race participants were being put up until the event officially began at about noon the next day. They'd stopped at an incredibly sketchy Motel 6 late the previous night and, to initial chagrin but increasing gratitude given the questionable quality of the lock on the door, been given a room with a single bed. Despite not knowing each other well, and Roxas finding Axel kind of annoying at the best of times, it felt marginally less like they were going to be killed and eaten by roaming packs of psychopaths when they were sleeping close together.

Fortunately, the hotel accommodations offered by the race sponsors were pretty posh and secure.

They turned the registration paperwork in to a guy stationed with a small entourage in the lobby and he checked it over carefully.

"So, you'll be driving a 2008 Alfa Romeo Spider?" he asked casually, tilting his sunglasses down to look at them over the rims. It made him look like a douche, in Roxas' opinion, because only douches wore sunglasses inside when they didn't need them, but he didn't comment.

"Yeah," Axel said. Then he smirked. "It was that or an '02 Toyota Supra."

"Good choice to go with the Spider." The guy nodded. "Okay, then, you guys are good to go. See you on Sunday."

Axel tossed him a little two-finger salute and they headed out to get their room keys.

"Why does everyone hate my car?" Roxas asked irritably as they approached the desk.

"Because it's a drift car and this is long-distance racing." Axel rolled his eyes. "You need to get with the program here, Roxie."

Roxas twitched. "Never call me that again."

Axel laughed. "Sure thing, kid." He turned his attention to the middle-aged woman at the desk and smiled winningly. "We've got a room through the race. And if we could get one with two beds, that'd be ace."

Roxas leaned against the counter and sighed. It was going to be a long few days.

-

The day of the race came a little quicker than Roxas had been anticipating. It didn't feel like they'd just been killing time at a hotel since Thursday, anyway. But that could have been just because Roxas had never stayed in such a nice hotel before and had been taking advantage of the opportunity.

"Okay," Axel said as they got to the car. "We've got some bottled water, a couple of packs of cigarettes, and some ibuprofen. I think we're set for awhile."

"I feel like this is a sign that we'd die if we were abandoned in the wilderness," Roxas replied blandly.

"We've got water and cigarettes, what more do we need?" Axel threw an arm around his shoulders. "We'll stop for food sometime this afternoon, when we've got through the first leg of the course." He glanced around. "People are getting ready to start, we should probably be joiners."

"You're really weird," Roxas said as he got in the car.

"You're the one who drifts."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "That was a terrible comeback. You sure you're up to driving first?"

Axel made a face at him and fastened his seat belt. "I'm up for it. This is the kind of driving I do, crowded and mostly straight ahead. It's what this car's made for - we're smaller than most of them, so we can weave and not worry about getting caught in the collisions that the big guys are gonna have to deal with. When we get to the hills? Then it's all yours."

"Sounds good." Roxas fastened his own seat belt and opened a bottle of water. "Drive your best, I'm out to win."

Axel laughed and snagged the bottle from him. "Just you wait, Roxas, you are about to see some fucking epic driving."

He tossed the cap at him. "You better not be lying to me."

"To you?" He capped the bottle. "Never."

And, with that, the cars began starting up and Axel got with the program and stuck the key in the ignition as they waited for the starting gun.

It was on.

-

"You are crazy!" Roxas said, laughing around the straw in his mouth and almost choking on a mouthful of Coke. "I'm surprised I'm still alive to talk about that shit!"

Axel grinned and preened a little. "I told you I'm amazing. Did you catch that three-car collision I skirted by? We would've been done right there, no doubt, if I didn't have such good control over my car."

"What about the guy who tried to hit us as we went around the first curve?" Roxas popped a fry in his mouth. "That wasn't a car, it was a fucking _boat_. I think I probably lost few years of my life when you managed to get around him. And there's not even a scratch on your precious Alfa Romeo."

"And you better keep it that way." Axel took a big bite out of his burger. "I'm serious here, Rox, that car is my pride and joy. Do _not_ fuck with it when we're in the hills."

Roxas waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry so much. I told you, my one accident happened when I wasn't racing."

"What did happen there?" Axel looked innocently curious, but it was a definite downer. Roxas didn't like thinking about the crash when he could avoid it, but he supposed Axel did sort of deserve to be reassured that Roxas wasn't going to get them both killed. Especially since they were driving his car.

"I was wasted," he said finally, after a long pause. "There was a party, in this big house at the top of a hill, and I shouldn't have been driving, but I had my best friend with me and we needed to get back. We couldn't afford to miss work the next day." He sipped his soda and then cleared his throat. "Anyway, we were both just trashed, cheap booze and some drugs, and he started egging me on. He did that a lot, we both drifted and he liked to try to compete a little. Normally, I wouldn't have let it influence my driving, but... well, judgement gets bad when you're fucked up, doesn't it? So I started trying to show off, but it was really dark and the turns were sharp and we ended up going off the road. And that was that. I actually spent a few days in the hospital, my ribs were so busted up."

Axel was giving him the sort of knowing look only other reckless drivers could. "I take it your friend didn't do so well."

Roxas shook his head, a little bitterly. "Died on the way to the hospital. Took me about half a year to get back behind the wheel of a car."

"I'm surprised you did it at all." Axel wrapped an arm around his shoulders and gave him a little half-hug.

"Yeah, well, Hayner would've been pissed if I'd just given up. Racing was sort of our dream together, you know? So I decided that the best thing to do, for both of us, was go back to driving." He shrugged and finished his soda.

"I'm still impressed." He paused for a moment. "You wanna keep going, or take a few more minutes?"

Roxas put the empty cup in the fast food bag. "Let's keep going. I don't want to waste time just sitting here when I could be out there doing what I do best." He smiled thinly. "Be prepared to be dazzled, Axel. We're getting into my territory now."

Axel grinned at him. "Looking forward to it."

-

Axel's description of the next leg of the course hadn't been entirely accurate. He'd said hills, but they were more like small mountains, which was cool by Roxas, but would probably have freaked out someone who didn't careen around mountain roads every weekend for fun.

"This is great," he said happily. "Perfect driving conditions - nice and dry, but not too dusty."

Axel leaned back in his seat and grinned. "You've got good control."

"Damn straight." Roxas grinned back. "I love this kind of driving."

Axel glanced down at his feet. "I've been noticing, you always drive heel-and-toe. I can't do it for very long, it starts to hurt my ankle."

"Yeah, it's a habit from drifting. You need to be able to press both the brake and the gas, or you'll probably spin out." He shrugged out shoulder. "It's the sort of thing that, once you've started doing it, you never really break away from. Driving with my foot straight is really awkward now."

"Makes sense." He nodded. "Muscle memory and all that."

"Yeah," Roxas agreed.

It had been going really smoothly, no other cars in the immediate area, but that sort of calm never lasted in a high-stakes race and, a few minutes later, a stopped car taking up most of the road at a turn came into view.

"Um," Axel said, almost blankly. "It's too narrow, Rox, we're gonna hit him."

Roxas looked at the space left between the car and the edge of the road, and shook his head. "No, I can get around him."

Axel's head whipped around to stare at him, but one thing Roxas knew really well was how to appraise an oncoming turn and he was completely certain he could get around the corner without hitting the other car, or going off the road.

They were going too slow for him to just oversteer, but that didn't mean he couldn't send the car into a drift another way. He considered using the handbrake, but Axel would probably be pissed if he made a mistake and damaged the axles or the engine, so, as he turned into the corner, he starting tapping the clutch instead. They started to straighten out a little bit too soon, but he kicked the clutch again to get the car to rotate more and they cleared both the stopped car and the corner with a couple of inches to spare.

"Fuck yeah!" he said, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning and pumping his fist triumphantly as he brought the car back up to speed.

Axel let out a breath it sounded like he might have been holding. "I thought we were going to die when you did that. Actually, what the fuck _was _that?"

"A clutch kick. It's a way to drift when you aren't going into the turn very fast - upsets the car's balance and makes the wheels slide. Awesome, huh?" He flashed the grin over at him and ignored the fact that Axel looked like he was about to pass out. It was only fair, really, after some of the stunts he'd pulled that morning.

"If by awesome, you mean psychotic, yeah." He collapsed back against the seat. "And you do that for fun?"

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me the adrenaline rush wasn't amazing."

"Well, I'll give you that." His responding grin was a little weak, but brightening up rapidly. "You'll have to show me some more of that shit sometime."

Roxas laughed. "I knew you'd like it, if you got a little taste. Drifting gets in your blood, man, I'm serious."

"We'll see about that." But Axel laughed, too, and, listening to it, Roxas felt happier than he had in a very long time.

He was annoying, and arrogant, and kind of an asshole, but there was something about Axel that Roxas was starting to really, really like.

And he was getting the impression that Axel was starting to really, really like him, too.

-

Four and a half days, a few more deep conversations, and a lot of coming to terms with what they'd do if they lost later, they won.

"We did it!" Roxas was grinning so broadly he felt like his face was going to crack and he didn't care that he probably looked deranged. "Olette said it was suicide, but I _knew_ we could own this fucking race."

Axel laughed happily. "We're a good team, what can I say? Your drifting and my long-distance experience, not to mention my fantastic car, was a hell of a lot better balanced than whatever the fuck other people had going for them."

Roxas nodded and exhaled slowly, letting go of the tension that had built up over the course of the week. "What are you going to do with your half of the cash?"

Axel shrugged. "Haven't decided yet. You?"

Roxas smiled wryly. "I've got a debt to pay. But I'm okay with that because I am so fucking sick of owing somebody money. Once this is taken care of, I'm done with that shit. I've been clean for a long time, and I am never getting myself in this sort of mess ever again. It's not worth it, man."

"True that." Axel smiled at him. "But it doesn't seem quite fair that you went through that race, death-defying moments and all, and are handing the money off to someone else, with no personal reward."

It was Roxas' turn to shrug. "It's not a big deal. I'm just glad to be out of trouble, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. But you still deserve something fun." He smiled. "So, what do you think, is fifteen grand enough money for two people to do something awesome?"

"Wait, what?" Roxas blinked, caught off-guard. "That's your money, Axel."

"I know, and I want to use it to do something awesome with you." His smile had turned into a full-on grin. "Come on, it'll be fun. Just you, me, and somewhere amazing where we can forget about all the bullshit we have to deal with normally." He leaned closer, almost intimately. "What do you say?"

Roxas stared at him for a moment, remembered all the things that had gone wrong and thought about all the things that still could, and then he closed the distance between them and pressed their lips together because he knew it would all be worth it.

Axel tensed for a second, surprised, then wrapped his arms around Roxas' waist and kissed him back.

When the kiss broke, they stayed where they were for a minute, smiling kind of stupidly. Then Axel smirked and lifted one hand to ruffle Roxas' hair.

"I take that as a yes."


End file.
